Cyberpunk 2036

Combat Rules

COMBATRULES

THEROUND

Each round is six seconds. Actions are divided into two types: simple actions and complex actions. A character may perform two simple actions, or one complex action in the course of a turn. Actions are as follows:

If the attacker wins, he receives a +5 to initiative. If multiple attackers, or defenders, attacker’s lowest roll vs. defender’s highest. If successful, all attackers get the bonus.

FASTDRAW/LIGHTINGSTRIKE

Character may declare at the beginning of combat that they are doing a fast draw (ranged) or lighting strike (melee) attack. It adds +3 to Initiative, but also +3 to all difficulty numbers that round.

MELEECOMBAT

In melee combat, the character declares what type of attack is being made. He can punch, kick, strike (weapon), or grapple. If he has already grappled his opponent, he can choose to hold or throw. If he holds his opponent, he can choose to break, choke, or disarm.

Escape is used if the character is grappled or held to break free. Block is automatically used against attacks. A character may declare they are dodging instead of blocking. Dodging however incurs a +3 to all Difficulties during the turn. Note that there is a separate skill called Dodge & Escape. The martial arts bonus is applied to this skill.

There are five basic types of ranged attacks: Single Shot, Short Burst, Full Auto, Suppression Fire, and Special.

A single shot is just that, and follows the standard rules for shooting. Single shot is a simple action.

A short burst is a 3-round burst. At short and medium range it gives a –3 to Difficulty. If a hit is rolled, 1d3 bullets find their mark and do damage. Short burst is a complex action.

Full Auto is hammering a single target with a barrage of bullets. It really only works at short range. Declare the number of rounds you wish to fire. If at short range, reduce the difficulty by this amount. If the range is longer, increase the difficulty by this amount and then roll to hit. If the target number is rolled exactly, one bullet hit. For every point higher that was rolled, an additional round found its target. Full burst is a complex action.

Suppression fire fills a zone with flying lead in an attempt to keep everyone’s head down. The shooter declares the area he is trying to cover, and the number of bullets he is spraying. The number of bullets fired divided by the number of squares covered is the Suppression Number. Any one who wishes to enter this area for the remainder of the round must first roll their COOL or less on a d10 just to get the nerve to do it. Assuming he succeeds, he must then roll his Athletics skill against the Suppression Number. If he fails, he eats 1d6 rounds up to the Suppression Number. Suppression Fire is a complex action.

Special covers all of the other weapons, such as heavy weapons, indirect fire, beam, flamethrower, etc. We won’t go into that here.

When a character is hit, the attacker rolls a hit location. Punch attacks reroll “Leg” Results. Short bursts go to the same location. Full auto is randomly rolled for each round.

COVER

If the hit location is deemed to be behind cover, the damage is reduced by the stopping power of the cover type. Any remaining damage is passed on to the target. Cover does not apply in melee attacks.

ARMOR

If the location has armor, the total damage is reduced by the total armor value of that location.

BODYTYPEMODIFIER

Characters with a high Body Type Rating will have a BTM number. Any damage that gets through cover and armor is further reduced by the BTM down to a minimum of one. If a shot got through armor, the character is taking at least one point of damage. After reductions for cover, armor, and BTM, the remaining damage is recorded on the character sheet.

ARMORDETERIORATION

Nothing lasts forever, and that includes armor. Every time armor is penetrated, it loses value equal to the total damage divided by the armor rating. So for example, a vest with a stopping power of 12 works as follows: 1-12 points of damage, the vest absorbs the full brunt and is fine. 12-24 points of damage, the vest reduces the damage by 12 and loses a point of stopping power. 25-36 points of damage, the vest reduces the damage by 12 and loses 2 points. Remember everything is based on the current stopping power, so as armor gets damaged, the easier it is to damage it further. Note that all of these rules apply to any type of cover as well.

LAYERINGARMOR

If armor is good, than lots of armor is great…to a point. Up to three layers of armor can be worn, (this includes skin weave and sub-dermal armor.) Only the outermost layer can be a hardened armor. The second layer’s Encumbrance Value is increased to one above list. The third layer’s Encumbrance Value is two above list. Since the total Encumbrance Value of your armor is subtracted from your Reflex attribute, loading up on armor tends to slow you down.

Also keep in mind that armor deterioration is based on individual layers. A solo may be sporting Skin Weave (SP 12), a Kevlar shirt (SP 6) and a bulletproof vest, (SP16). This gives his torso a total armor value of 34. If he takes 20 points of damage, he feels nothing, but his vest loses a point of SP. If he another hit for 22, he still feels nothing, but both the vest (now a 15) and the shirt each lose a point. Those two hits have cut his total torso armor value to 31.

EFFECTS OF DAMAGE

Everyone essentially has 40 Hit Points. However, every time a character takes damage, he must make a save roll. The save roll requires the character to roll under their BODY on a d10. There are two types of saves: a Stun save and a Death Save.

Anytime the character takes damage, a Stun Save must be made. A penalty is applied depending on the amount of damage taken. A failed Stun save takes the character out of action. At the end of a turn where a character has been stunned for the entire turn, he may make another Stun Save in an attempt to recover.

If a character fails a Stun Save, and has taken more than 12 total points of damage, he must also make a Death Save. A penalty can apply to that as well. Failing a Death Save means medical attention is required or the character is spare parts. More than 40 points of damage is an automatically failed Death Save.

Finally, some attributes are affected as well. It’s all explained in the table below.

Total Damage Suffered

Stun Save

Death Save

REF

INT

COOL

1-4

0

N/A

0

0

0

5-8

-1

N/A

-1

0

0

9-12

-2

N/A

-1

-1

-1

13-16

-3

-1

-2

-1

-1

17-20

-4

-1

-2

-1

-1

21-24

-5

-2

-3

-2

-2

25-28

-6

-3

-3

-2

-2

29-32

-7

-4

-4

-2

-2

33-36

-8

-5

-4

-3

-3

37-40

-9

-6

-5

-3

-3

CRITICALHITS

If a single location takes 10 or more points of damage in a single hit, and is at Mortal2 or worse, a critical hit is suffered.

Damage

Injury

Effect

10-15

Muscle damage/bone breakage

Lose use of limb*

15-20

Internal Bleeding

Lose an additional 1d4 per round.**

21+

Major artery or organ destroyed*’’

Automatically fail Death Save.

*If this critical is suffered to Torso or Head, the Stun Save is automatically failed.

**Until stabilized.

*’’If suffered to limb, it will need to be replaced. If suffered to torso, major organ (heart, lung, etc.) will need to be replaced. If suffered to head: the eye, jaw, or part of skull will need to be replaced.

DODGINGDEATH

Once a character has failed a Death Save, he must be stabilized. He must also be stabilized if he has internal bleeding. At the end of the round that the character failed a Death Save, he goes into Death State One. Every minute (6 rounds), his condition worsens; until he is at Death State Ten. After one minute at Death State Ten, the character is spare parts. To stabilize a character, a First Aid or Medical Tech must be rolled. NOTE: A character can never use Medical Tech on his or her self.

Someone under the care of a person with First Aid will heal a point every two days. A character under the care of someone with Medical Tech will heal a point a day. A character that is hospitalized will heal 2 points per day.

Characters that failed a Death Save but survive are unconscious. Each time they heal up into the next damage level, they can make a Stun Save to regain consciousness.